David Furnish will fight to keep Elton John biopic ‘Rocketman’ safe from censors

Actor Taron Egerton and Elton John’s husband David Furnish have said they’ll “strongly resist” any censorship of the upcoming Elton John biopic Rocketman‘s gay content as the movie is released in different countries around the world.

Egerton plays the gay music icon in the “epic musical fantasy” about Elton’s early years, and in a new interview Egerton has insisted that the film won’t undergo cuts to tone it down the content.

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“That’s why I made the film,” Egerton told GQ when asked about graphic content in Rocketman, including a much-publicised gay sex scene.

“Those scenes are desperately important when you have an icon of that magnitude, who means so much to one community.

“It’s a studio movie. It’s Elton John. We’ve got to own that. I don’t care how well the film does in Russia. It doesn’t matter. It can’t matter.

“What’s an extra $25 million at the box office? What are you willing to do for that? Sacrifice sleeping at night because you watered the whole thing down?”

Producer David Furnish, Elton’s husband, agreed with the actor’s comments.

“International cinema is complicated and sadly the world isn’t a homogenous place,” Funish told GQ.

“Well, you can’t do that with our film, I’ll tell you that. It’s integral to Elton’s journey as an individual and as an artist.

“I would strongly resist any sanitisation. The world continues to need to evolve and grow in the right direction.

“As it goes into that international distribution and marketing machine, you just have to do your best to preserve the integrity.”

Described by as “an epic musical fantasy about the incredible human story of Elton John’s breakthrough years,” the film covers Elton’s early years, including the relationship between the singer and his first manager, John Reid, who was also his lover.

Last month director Dexter Fletcher dismissed claims a gay sex scene was being removed from the film as “rumours”.

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“It’s still unfinished so it’s nothing but rumors,” Fletcher said.

“It has and always will be the no holds barred, musical fantasy that Paramount and producers passionately support and believe in.”

Rocketman opens in Australian cinemas on May 30. Watch the trailer below: